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Communication Is Key to e-Discovery Success

BY Michael Feldman
March 25, 2008

Given how they say in real estate, 'location, location, location,' the mantra for e-discovery and document reviews should be 'communication, communication, communication.'

The recent lawsuits filed by Sullivan & Cromwell and Electronic Evidence Discovery, Inc. ('EED') against one another brought to the forefront some of the frustrations that law firms and the vendors to which they outsource are currently experiencing. Among the challenges that commonly arise are incomplete data, missed deadlines, incorrectly tagged documents and budget overruns, all of which can wreak havoc on a litigation and sour a vendor's relations with the client. The Sullivan and EED suits ultimately were settled out of court and attributed to 'miscommunications.'

So how do you get legal professionals at law firms, e-discovery and staffing vendors to function harmoniously in order to minimize problems? It's certainly not easy. There are few simple answers, given all the factors involved that can influence the outcome, including judges, lawyers, litigation support professionals, clients, vendors and the multitude of complex technologies involved. A good start is having a simple awareness of this fact ' along with a little dose of humility, which can go a long way toward overcoming the problems we all face on a daily basis.

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